Strong Titles Sell Novels and Books

I’ve been thinking a lot about titles for novels, or really any book, trying to give them stronger hooks.

Titles are essentially sales tools: for you to sell to the publisher and for the publisher to sell to the public. After you have several books out and start to build a reputation, then your NAME becomes the hook as much as anything. But at first, it’s the title.

What makes a good title?

Catchy. Unusual, interesting, lyrical – anything that lifts the title above average. Alliteration, metaphors, coined words, and rhyme are things to try as you play with possible titles.

Emotional Appeal. Legendary editor Sol Stein says, “Fiction evokes emotion; nonfiction imparts information.” With more creative nonfiction today, we might amend that to say, “Nonfiction imparts information in an emotional way.” The title should emphasize the emotional hook. Names of characters often help add emotional appeal – if you’ve named the character well.

Pop Culture Reference. If you can work in some pop culture reference, all the better.

Sound Bite. Remember that the salesman has only 10 seconds to sell your book. A sound bite is a succinct way of describing your story and will help the sales happen.

Unique to YOUR Story. And you want the title to be uniquely fitted to your story, not generic in any way. No other story could be described accurately by the title.

As an example, here is a series of titles an author went through on a book:

• The Parts Nobody Knows
• To Love and Write Well
• How Different It Was
• With Due Respect
• The Eye and the Ear. (Ernest Hemingway’s last choice for his book)
• And the last choice, the one used when it was published was chosen by his wife, Mary: The Moveable Feast.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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Western Washington SCBWI Retreat: Voice

The retreat was great. There were about 40-45 people there and they were split into two groups. Group A came to me, while Group B went to Patti Gauch, then we swapped for the same presentation again. I sorta knew how Patti would approach voice (and I might have done many of the same things if she hadn’t been there), so I deliberately took a different tack and I think it enriched the experience for the participants. Then, I did a short intro to writing with scenes, more a reminder that this is an option than an indepth study.

The Alderbrook Resort was a great venue, right on the Hood Canal. From the restaurant, you could see a small stream feeding into the canal and we watched salmon swimming up the stream to spawn. Wow! Amazing to this land-locked Arkansan!

Thanks to Jolie Steckly and Sara Easterly for a fabulous job putting this together. (And to Sara’s new daughter, Violet Grace, for giving great cuddles.) And of course, thanks to Jamie Temairik, their assistant and fabulous illustrator.

And Thanks to all those who attended and inspired me with their energy, love of words and attention to detail!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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NaNoWriMo is in full swing! That means over 50,000 writers are slugging out 50,000 words, working on the first draft of a novel, in the 30 days of November. But I’m thinking ahead to December when that first rough draft needs revision. Here are 3 things to keep in mind as you’re writing that first draft, so you make your life easier later.

• Character bible. Either open a new file, or keep a notebook beside your computer to keep track of character particulars. Does the character have blue eyes and red hair in the first chapter? You’ll make life easier if you jot this down, so you can keep track of it. Of course, you may want to totally change that in revisions, but a character “bible,” will help you know what you’ve got.
• Timeline. Every time you type a time word, make it bold. This will help later as you scan for bold (or red or underlined or whatever you want) to see if you can straighten up the time line.
• Voice. Take the liberty of writing different chapters in different voices. No revisions allowed until December, so this is a time where you can play as you get the story line down on paper. You could try three or four different voices as you write, and by December, one will emerge as the strongest, most interesting. Word count is important, yes, but so is the spirit of exploration.

And when you’re ready to revise, come back for more tips!
Good luck! Write fast!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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Writing and revising a novel is such a big job! It helps to break it into stages.

Writing AND Revising Your Novel

Nanowrimo is catching the excitement of more and more writers as they try to dash off 50,000 words during the busy, busy month of November. Getting the first draft down on paper is a very, very good thing.

Then, it’s time to see what you have. Novel Metamorphosis has several ways of evaluating that first draft to see what you actually did, as opposed to what you thought you did.

Then, it’s time to put on the thinking cap. Some would say it’s time for the left brain to make a few decisions after the right brain got to play so much in that first draft. What needs to be strengthened, changed, omitted (yes, omitted!), added?

The next stage is one of taking it day by day, chipping away at the tasks you’ve identified. This is where Katherine Paterson’s sign-above-the-desk is appropriate: Before the Gates of Excellence, the Gods have placed sweat.

Unexpected Steps

Often, though, there are some unexpected steps in the process. For example, there’s the Stick-it-in-a-Drawer-and-Forget-it-phase. Many of us have experienced this discouraging phase, often triggered by a small well-meaning comment by someone, a class that points out deficiencies, or just a sudden boredom with the character, plot, setting, etc. You just can’t face it another day.

Another unexpected step is the sudden insight. Maybe we should expect this step, if we’re slogging away at the thing, but I’m always surprised by the sudden light that tells me just where to go next in the story.

Unexpected, but delightful, is the sale of the mss, which sends us into both despair at the revision letters from the editor, but exaltation that the story will reach readers – finally.

Challenges

If November is NaNoWriMo, then shouldn’t January be NaNoRevisoMo, the month for revisions? And what month is the NaNoResurrectoMo, the month to pull things out of the drawer, resurrect the story and revise? Would that be March?

Here’s your challenge: If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, then do this:
November — Nanowrimo
January — NaNoRevisoMo
March — NaNoResurecctoMo.

What other Nano—Mos do we need?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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I’m working on the first draft of a novel and I’m about 2/3 of the way through the plot, when something interesting happened.

Embrace Exploration

I’m at a point where the E, the main character, is house bound for a couple days and suddenly M, his friend, becomes the legs of the story, the only character who is moving around. I’ve been telling the story in E’s POV, 3rd person. But this section seemed to need M’s POV and to my surprise, it came out 1st person.

But then, I’m teaching in Seattle in two weeks on the topic of voice. I decided to try to rewrite M’s chapter with an edgier voice. In other words, I gave myself permission to explore the story in new ways. Wow, I like this new voice.

First drafts v. revision

First drafts are for 1) finding out what story you want to tell, and 2) exploring the story in various ways.

Revisions are for finding out what is the best way to tell that story.

First drafts should be full of surprises and serendipity.

Revisions should be full of satisfaction as all the elements start to fit into a whole.

First drafts are for roaming around and defining boundaries of the story.

Revisions are for reinforcing those boundaries and building within them.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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When I’m writing or revising a novel, one of the fun games I like to play is the search for an apt phrase.

An Apt Phrase

Lately, I’ve been listening to recorded books of Rex Stout’s classic detective series about Nero Wolfe, the overweight, orchid enthusiast. His sidekick, Archie Goodwin, tells the story and does all the legwork for Wolfe. In Some Bury Caesar, Goodwin is smitten by a femme fatale and calls her “Trifle.” At one point, he mocks himself and says that he’ll gladly buy her “a string of cellophane pearls.”

“A string of cellophane pearls.”

Wow! What a phrase. It captures the playfulness of the relationship, how Goodwin tries to downplay her effect on him, her love of jewelry. In fact, as most apt phrases do, it says more than you can say by dissecting it.

Metaphors, simlies, descriptions, great verbs — where ever I can work it in, I try to have at least one apt phrase in every story. Sometimes, the phrase just happens; other times, I have to work at it. But I make it one of my revision goals to search for the perfect apt phrase.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win